Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Our 2009 Disney vacation (NOT)

I’m a Disney planner with a capital D (for “disorder”). We’ve been every year for the last 5 and have had up to 16 other people with us at one time and I love it. Planning is almost as much fun as going. I’ve posted a trip report with several installments of our first trip, so I thought I’d share with you some of my strategies and successes.

Here’s the plan from the OCD schedule.

I also am a firm believer in Tour Guide Mike’s member’s only website. He gives great info that has been very valuable to us in the past.

So, fly in on 8:55 am flight (American), pick up rental car (National), check in (concierge level – present from Himself), pick up two cases of water from Bell Services that I had shipped from Costco (this is one of many great ideas from the discussion board I troll about all things Disney). See if we can meet up with WonderBoy (our great friend who has worked at Disney for many years) to deliver the baked goods from Fort Worth’s Esperanza’s Bakery that he is so fond of. (We had breakfast here last summer when he was in DFW to judge the Miss Teen Texas Pageant and he brought back dozens of pastries to the judge’s lounge – he was very popular!)

However, reality set in on Saturday – I’d been battling a flair up of an intestinal issue and finally realized that a week in Disney probably wasn’t the smartest thing I could do. So we canceled, Himself and I and a very good friend who was going to pal around with me. Sounds so easy – so not so. Two of our “kids” (former students that are “adopted” and a part of our family), let’s call them…Paco and Helen – primarily because…Paco just fits and Helen... has this strange stalker-like obsession with Helen Reddy - will forge on without us and keep us posted on The Happiest Place on Earth.

I’d been planning on blogging about the trip. Well, no whining allowed – we still have the week off – how creative can we be while still taking it easy and de-stressing (which will be a big help to my health)?

I’ll post what we were supposed to be doing vs. what we actually do. You get to decide how successful our “stay-cation” turns out to be.

And now for…Reality Sunday

Slept until 9 am.

Hmmm…

Haven’t done that in months. Usually roll out of bed somewhere between 5:15 and 7 am dependent on the day.

All I can say is "wow." That was really nice. And Himself was already up and making scrambled eggs, toast and hot tea for me.

So far so good.

I’d downloaded an audio book for the plane trip, so I though “what the heck – luxuriate a bit more”, so I did and listened to the first chapter (another hour in bed). Well, I’m totally hooked on The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

Then WonderBoy called in response to my pathetic message on Facebook, moaning about not coming to Florida. We spent almost an hour on the phone catching up, so even if I didn’t get to see him, we at least got to visit.

Himself and I decided that if I was going to continue my blandish diet; I could at least get some really fresh bland food, so we took a field trip to Central Market. Beautiful fruit and veggies – mmmmm. I could honestly spend hours in the produce section - they have the prettiest and most bizarre things. But I had a mini breakdown in the bakery area because I began to imagine myself sitting in the middle of one of the bins eating an entire loaf of aromatic sourdough and then, oh, the pain that would ensue afterwards. My sweet husband took matters into his own hands and asked one of the foodies if they had a more robust (read twigs and berries) loaf with a sourdough base and Eureka! – they did. A nice 10 grain loaf that still has that slightly sour nose to it. I can actually eat that!

We came home and Himself watched uninterrupted football (which he thoroughly enjoyed) and I played on the computer for the rest of the day (which I thoroughly enjoyed). A little solitaire, cleaning out the email box and quite a bit of time lost in the New York Times archives of the 1870’s and 80’s researching an article I’m wanting to write. I honestly can’t remember the last time we’ve had that much time to just goof off.

The kids called and said the weather was beautiful, they were already pin trading (Paco’s addiction is totally my fault – who knew introducing those shiny cloisonné objects to him would engender a response worse than cocaine, although Helen can spot a lanyard at 50 paces) and they missed us. I miss them, too. I’m still mourning the Concierge Lounge and the thought of having hot tea on my balcony while watching giraffes stroll by, but I do feel good about a decision that is based on taking care of myself, something I’m really good at doing for others, but not so much for myself.

So, I must say that sleeping in versus getting to DFW airport at 7 am is a no brainer.

I did get hot tea, but no giraffes in site.

I did have a nice dinner (cooked by Himself) with rustic bread and some nice (just a tiny bit) artisan cheese.

No fireworks, but here in Texas we’re under a burn ban anyway.

AND I did relax…

This might not be as horrible as I thought…

(…just don’t tell the mouse)

P.S. Paco texted and said that the Guinness Stew is no longer on the menu. ‘Tis a good thing Himself wasn’t there, for if he had been “…Will Danaher, not a scorched stone of your fine house would still be standing.”